


Another Legend

by Classestnine



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adventure, BAMF Sakura, Hidan's cursing, Humor, Itachi/Sakura-sorta, Multi, Other, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2018-11-09 04:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11097090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Classestnine/pseuds/Classestnine
Summary: Freedom was something she longed for so desperately that she was willing to leave those she loved if only to achieve it. It was a selfish and rash decision which led her on a journey causing a chain of events she could only look back on with befuddlement. She got the freedom she strived for, though at a price she could have never predicted. (I do not own Naruto, obviously.) For now no pairing is actually set in stone. Hope you enjoy the story.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not going to lie, this chapters a bit rough, in my standards anyway. Though I hope you enjoy it. Also a warning, this story starts out with happy hijinks but it does not stay that way, not one bit.

She sat there staring at the peaceful pond as thoughts raced through her mind. Pondering over the things that had recently fell on her lap. A sigh exited her pink lips as she leaned on the small red bridge floating over the clear water. The warm summer breeze caressed her body and grabbed her pink locks making them dance. She linked her hands together as she put her elbows up on the red railing in front of her. She had done it, completed her fiftieth mission as an ANBU special ops at the age of sixteen. Which was an accomplishment in itself, however that was not the most surprising part. After getting back from Ame where her mission had taken place. She went to the Hokage to report and was surprisingly offered a place that was of high importance as one of the Sannin. She had been shocked at being offered this high position at her age. She was given two days to give the Hokage her answer on the matter. 

However it was difficult for her, even though having the position would grant her many things others would not even dream of. This position however came with a price, her part of the deal would be to leave the village for six years. She would go to lands that no one knew of, that were too dangerous to document for the normal ninja. She would have to leave her home for six years, leave everyone she cared for. However when she got back, if she got back, she would be granted the privilege of basically doing whatever she wanted. She would be able to leave the village without announcement, she would get paid without doing missions. She would have housing at places almost as large as the Uchiha compound. As well as being able to start her own clan of ninja, the Haruno clan. 

There were so many things she would be granted, however she wasn't sure if she wanted to pay the price for it. Leaving her home for six or more years, abandoning the only thing she has ever known. What would her best friends think about this... what would her father think about this. More importantly, what would Uchiha Itachi think about this. She absolutely dreaded the thought of telling him, and dreaded the thought of telling him that she was considering it. She had no idea what he would do when that information was set in front of him. She had been considering just leaving without telling him, however that would be a foolish thing to do. Considering the fact that he would literally hunt her down and drag her back himself. Or worse hunt her down and demand to go with her. Sakura was driven out of her thoughts at feeling a familiar chakra signature approach. She rolled her eyes as she felt them attempt to sneak up on her. They hid behind a bush being careful to make no sound while maneuvering behind it. Sakura let an amused smile go to her face as she heard a small twig snap. 

“Hello Naruto,” Sakura said not bothering to turn around while she did. She heard the bush russell and a string of cusses exit Naruto’s mouth as he fell to the ground exposing his position. He got up and brushed himself off with a childish pout on his face. 

“Saku, how do you always know it’s me?” Naruto questioned grumpily with his arms crossed over his chest. Sakura turned around with a smirk on her face as she looked at Naruto. 

“Naruto, you may be a good ninja, as well as a powerhouse with all that chakra, however you lack one skill,” Naruto looked at her telling her to continue. “You always forget to mask your chakra and your a bit too noisy for stealth missions.” Sakura looked at Naruto as he deflated and fell to his knees on the ground groaning. Sakura rolled her eyes as a soft smile graced her face. Yes she would definitely miss her goofy, childish, best friend. Sakura turned quickly flipping out a kunai and blocking an incoming strike of a katana. 

“Nice try Sasuke, but you are going to have to be a lot more skilled to sneak up on me.” Sakura smirked at the sixteen year old raven haired boy in front of her. He smirked at her with a mischievous glint crossing his eyes. Sakura smiled at him and flipped out another kunai putting it behind her to block one of Naruto’s attacks. “Haven’t you learned your lesson yet boys, don’t mess with me.” Sakura smiled at the brightly letting go of her kunai and grabbing the boy’s wrists squeezing them and making them drop their weapons. She then propelled them forward with a pull on their wrists and jumped up avoiding the two boys collision. They rammed into each other’s foreheads making them fall to the ground in agony. Meanwhile Sakura crouched, much like Kakashi on top of the railing on the small red bridge. Looking down and smiling at her two best friends as they rubbed their foreheads with pouts on their faces. Sakura let a sigh exit her pink lips as she thought back to her previous predicament.

“The hokage has offered me a position to leave the village for six years and document foreign lands alone,” Sakura looked at her boys as they both stopped rubbing their foreheads and looked up at her. “I might take it.” She added making surprised looks flash on the two boys faces. She stopped talking letting her words sink in as she waited for Naruto to blow up. Sure enough Naruto sprung to his feet, many different emotions flashing across his face. Instead of doing what she thought he would do he turned on his heel and walked away, red chakra spilling from his form. “Yes, he is pissed...” Sakura thought as she watched him walk away. She turned toward Sasuke who was still sitting on the ground and glaring at her. 

“No,” Sasuke simply said as he stood up and walked toward her. Sakura raised a brow at his answer as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You're not allowed to.” Sasuke looked her in the eyes completely serious about his declaration. 

“How about this Sasuke, if you alone can beat me in a fight then I’ll let you come with me, however this is my decision and since you are not my father nor are you the Hokage you have no say in it.” Sakura looked him in the eye seeing his sharingan spinning. She smirked at realizing what he was trying to do. “Have you forgotten Sasuke, about that little voice in my head, makes it a bit difficult for the Sharingan to be effective.” Sakura tilted her head in a mocking way as Sasuke glared at her. He turned on his heel muttering under his breath something that made Sakura’s eyes widen. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” She said menacingly. Sasuke turned around with a mischievous smirk on his face and before she could get to him he disappeared. She may have been stronger than him in a fight but in running away, he was definitely faster than her. Though instead of running in the opposite direction she saw him go in like she should have, she ran after him with incredible speed. Sakura ran so fast she was just a blur jumping across rooftops and dodging people on the streets. She was merely feet away from Sasuke at this point, putting everything she could into her feet. She looked ahead seeing the Uchiha compound and saw Sasuke increase his speed and go over the gate and inside the compound. Without a second thought she repeated the same and skidded to a stop inside the living room of the main house of the Uchiha compound. Looking around she saw Shisui, Mikoto, Obito, Sasuke and Itachi sitting around the multiple couches. Sasuke was standing, with a satisfied smirk on his face and at that moment Sakura knew that she was screwed. She opted for turning on her heel and trying to walk out of their house. However she was stopped by a tall raven haired teen who had what she assumed was an angry expression on his face. She was not sure, even if she had spent years on a team with Itachi, she had never really seen him visibly angry. Since it was happening now she was pretty sure he was going to kill her. 

“Afternoon Tachi.” Sakura bid him her usual hello as she shifted on her feet nervously. In a flash Itachi had grabbed her tightly by the arm and steered her toward and out of the door. Sakura struggled to get out of his grip whining the entire time and begging for him to let go. After ten minutes she let him drag her through town, earning them a couple of amused reactions from the townspeople, who were obviously used to this behavior from them by now. She let out a sigh as Itachi’s grip did not seem to loosen one bit. He led her outside of the gates and toward a spot in the forest behind the village that they visited often. It was a large cliff that they often sat upon, it being the only private place in the village. There was a small bench on top of the flat that was the top of the cliff as well as a small garden. As soon as the trek up the cliff was over with Itachi let go of her arm and sat down his feet hanging off the edge of the cliff. 

“The angry silent treatment, just great he is beyond pissed.” Sakura let out a sigh of resignation as she took a seat next to him. 

“I’m sorry, I was going to tell you but I guess Sasuke got to it first, Him and Naruto were pretty mad as well,” Sakura explained as she looked out at the reaches beyond their small village. She turned her head toward Itachi as she heard a long sigh escape his lips. 

“So you are leaving then?” Itachi questioned sadness lacing his voice. 

“Considering it, but yes probably, I mean I really don’t want to leave you all but I want to take this journey, I want adventure beyond assassination missions and beyond this village, It’s a huge privilege to be able to do this.” Sakura looked out at the land as far as her eye could see, she wanted to go beyond that. Beyond what she had seen countless times before, beyond the borders of the chartered lands. Lifting her hand and stretching it towards the sky as if she could grasp it and be taken away. A soft smile playing on her lips as she closed her eyes letting the warm breeze entangle her. 

“Very well then.” Itachi stood suddenly brushing himself off and turning swiftly on his heel. Sakura raised a brow at Itachi’s actions and stood up as well following after Itachi. He turned his head slightly while he walked down the hill, a small smile playing at his lips. “I shall go pack my things.” He declared making Sakura stop in her tracks and look after him as he left, her mouth agape and her eyes wide.

“Ehh!?” Sakura screamed after Itachi but to no avail, he ignored her and kept walking toward what she assumed was the direction of his house. “Itachi, no you can't the Hokage would not allow it,” Sakura said with a smug smile as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“I can speak to her, I am sure she would agree with me that even if you are a very accomplished ninja you would still need someone else with you.” 

“What would your family think, they would never allow the Uchiha Heir to leave the village for six or seven years, that would be insane.” 

“They have another son, and I’m sure they would want me with you as well, and if not I don't really care much of what they think.” 

“But Itachi.” Itachi stopped walking causing Sakura to almost walk into him. He turned around with a serious yet smug look on his face. 

“Sakura, weather you like it or not I will be coming with you, and there is nothing you can do about it.” Sakura’s eyes were wide and she was gaping like a fish. Never once in her life had Itachi done something like this, especially something that was this big of a deal. He had let her go on tons of solo missions as an ANBU and some has lasted two years. Though she did suppose that two year and seven years were a bit of a different time frame. However she couldn't help but feel like he was only doing this so he could protect her. If that was the case, it just pissed her off. Sakura stopped walking and looked at the ground with an angered expression. Itachi halted and turned around to face her with a questioning look on his face. 

“Why do you want to come Itachi?” Itachi thought over this question for a bit, why did he want to go with her? Was it because he didn't want to be that long without her or was it because he wanted to protect her. It was surely the first, however he would never admit it outloud. So without him really thinking about it he uttered the words that would most likely lead to his doom. 

“I need to protect you.” Like that Itachi had a very surprised look on his face as pain erupted in his gut and he was crashing into several trees, each one breaking and splintering on contact. At about the seventh object he had crashed into he fell to the ground the impact on it only cracking it. He couldn't breath, his breath had been knocked out of him by the punch to the stomach, but had just worsened after hitting his back so many times. He really was not at all expecting that and something told him that even if he was he would not have been able to dodge it. He tried sitting up into a more respectable position rather than practically laying on the ground surrounded by rubble, however the pain that shot through his body told him that he probably should not move. Sakura easily walked over the damage she had created and stood towering above Itachi.

“Do you really think,” Sakura crouched down and leaned forward merely inches from Itachi’s face with complete rage in her eyes. “I need your protection, I-ta-chi.” Her fists were clenched and she had anger and hurt swirling in her eyes. Then he finally realized what a colossal mistake he had made. She had been treated like that her entire life, treated like she was a fragile little doll that needed protection. Her own team had treated her like that for years even when she had surpassed them all and became an ANBU at the age of fourteen. Then Itachi one of her only friends who practically vowed to never make the same mistake had just done it. She worked her ass off day in and day out until she was practically exhausted from lack of Chakra and sleep. Going up the ranks faster than anyone would have imagined and yet she made Chunin within a week, Jounin within four months and ANBU within a year of her graduating the academy. It made him and everyone else wonder why she had not just graduated the academy early. He did a stupid thing and he couldn't even believe it himself. Sakura’s eyes softened as she saw the realization and panic flash through his eyes. She knew he didn't mean it that way and realized that he would probably do the same thing to Sasuke or Naruto as well. 

Through her years growing up with her three best friends she realized that they had all became very close with each other. Sasuke and Naruto still acted like children and fought on many occasions and Naruto acted like he hated Itachi and vise versa. However Naruto had explained to her that he had really looked up to Itachi for being so strong and such a great ninja. It made Sakura smile when he did something reckless on a mission and Itachi would reprimand him for being stupid but all the while she could see the worry he masked in his onyx eyes. They had all grown to love eachother like siblings. It made sense Sakura and Naruto had after all grown up with the Uchiha’s since even before the academy. A large smile enveloped her face as the memory that started their friendship entered her mind. Itachi raised a brow at her with suspicion, lucky for him he realized the smile on her face wasn't the devious one she used when she was planning someone’s demise. It was a genuine and happy smile that made butterflies go to his stomach. A sigh exited her pink lips as she set her now glowing green hands over Itachi’s stomach. He felt the pain in his body leave him as he relaxed against the all too familiar feeling. 

He had been on many S-class missions with Sakura and more than once had been extremely injured. Like always Sakura had healed him perfectly and with little chakra use. She had become an excellent medic in the three years of training under their current Hokage, Tsunade. She had surpassed the Sannin in two years and perfected her skill in one. Itachi of course argued with anyone who said that Sakura wasn’t the best medic in the world. This wasn’t him being nice or praising her for something that she didn’t actually have. If Itachi didn’t think she was the best he wouldn’t say, sure he wouldn’t outright tell her she was a terrible medic. 1) because she wasn’t and 2) because even if she wasn’t the best medic, she was a damn good fighter that could probably kick his ass any day of the week. Which because Uchiha Itachi was Uchiha Itachi, that was quite the compliment. 

“Itachi, will you let me do this on my own, for once please, I need to really prove myself.” Sakura looked at Itachi with a serious expression, her eyes shining with determination. Itachi looked at her for a moment and then let a sigh escape his lips. He knew he was going to regret this....

“I understand, but you better come back.” Itachi looked like he was pouting and because of that bursts of laughter began exiting Sakura’s lips.

“Itachi, of course I’ll come back, who do you think I am?” Itachi looked away, unconvinced. He knew she would definitely come back alive, that wasn't his worry. It was no secret to anyone that Sakura had always been different. Not strange or weird, just different, like she had always been meant for a different life than one as a konoha ninja. She rarely listened to orders and when she did it was only because she thought they were worth listening to. She only went on solo missions and if she was with a team she had to be the leader. Not because she was a born leader or anything, it was because every time she was on a squad she ended up disagreeing with the captain. She would outright tell them that their idea was stupid and that they were being inept at their job. She had the attitude of a rogue ninja, not one of a ninja loyal to their village. He was afraid that if she liked the new world that she would be going to document then she would never leave. He was afraid that if she made friends wherever she was going, those friends would ask her to stay. He was afraid he would never get to see her again because he knew somehow that she wouldn't come back from this trip. 

“Let’s go get some tea and Dango before I go and tell the Hokage my decision.” Sakura held her hand out to Itachi to help him up. He let a sigh escape his lips but grabbed her hand and let himself be dragged around the village. 

*****

Sakura had told the Hokage that she would be going, after Itachi and her had lunch. The next day she was to report to the Hokage’s office to grab a few things and go over the last details of her trip. Apparently Sakura was also supposed to grab five scrolls and take them to places on her way to the port where her mission would officially start. The Hokage’s excuse was that she would be on her way anyway so it was easier for her to do it than another ninja. Which wasn't necessarily true considering her first stop was Waterfall then Suna, Mist, Stone and lastly Grass. She had no idea why it was in that order, but the Hokage said that it had to be specifically in that order. Sakura sighed as she walked up to the Hokage’s office in all of her gear and a pack on her back. Sakura walked into the Hokage’s office and sweat dropped at the many ANBU scattered around her office. Once Sakura closed the door they all were able to take off their masks. Even with their masks on Sakura knew who they were, being an ANBU special ops captain herself. One of her close friends, an ANBU captain named Maki walked up to her and enveloped her in a tight hug. Sakura let a sad smile go to her face as she hugged her taller (only slightly she told herself) hyperactive friend. 

“I’m gonna miss you Saku, you better come back.” Maki said as he crossed his arms over his muscular yet slim chest. 

“You sound like Itachi,” Sakura said with a grin. So it went on with old friends and comrades bidding their goodbyes before they were forced to go back to work. Tsunade looked at Sakura with a sad smile on her face as Sakura once again hugged Maki and the members of his squad before they shunshinned to their compound. As Sakura turned to Tsunade with a questioning look in her eyes Tsunade tried to hide the frown on her face. 

“Your team is waiting for you at the gate.” Tsunade stood and moved toward Sakura as she grabbed the scrolls off of her desk. Handing six scrolls to Sakura (Five being for the villages she was to go to and one being her identification scroll) Tsunade once again looked at her apprentice with a sad look in her eyes. Sakura rolled her eyes and hugged the busty woman, much to her surprise. Tsunade hugged her student tightly and then pushed away patting her on the head. 

“I’m going to miss you Sakura.” 

“Same to you Shishou.” Sakura grinned at her teacher trying to lighten up the otherwise depressing mood. Tsunade smiled and directed Sakura to the door so she could go say goodbye to her team. As Sakura closed the door a tear slid down the older womans face. 

“I’m sorry Sakura, I had no choice.” The Hokage sigh with anger flashing in her eyes, Oh how she loathed this village sometimes.

Sakura walked through the village toward the gate, her long pink hair swaying behind her in the warm breeze. She had so many thoughts racing through her mind as she neared the village gates. Her village, the village she grew up in, grew stronger in, had so many fond memories in. The village she met her two best friends in, the village where her parents were buried. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about the place she was about to leave behind. Shaking her head to rid the depressing thoughts that were about to flood her mind, she began to walk faster to her destination. Once she had the gates in sight she stopped walking, hardly able to believe the sight before her eyes. There were so many people standing in front of the gates, all of which she knew. She laughed a little as she saw the people's clothes and how they practically split in color. On one side was practically the entire Uchiha clan, all adorning black clothes. Then to the other was the entire Senju clan, mostly wearing whites and cream color clothing. In between, so a fight wouldn’t break out were ninja of varying degree and rank. Though she could spot each one by their choice of clothing. Each ninja had a very interesting and different choice of clothes. Naruto was probably the easiest one to spot, with his black suit with a bright orange collar and parts on his legs. Of course the second easiest one to spot was Sasuke, only because he and Naruto were mostly always together. He stood next to the ‘dobe’ with an irritated look on his face as Naruto waved his hands around dramatically most likely trying to explain something to the Uchiha about Ramen. Sakura let a smile grace her face as she began walking toward the gate again. Once she was in sight of the people at the gate they all stopped what they were doing and waved. Well most of them did, the Uchiha’s besides their hyperactive clan head opted to nodding at her in a silent greeting. 

Sakura waved back but fell to the ground moment later as an orange and black blob tackled her. 

“Naruto, you have two seconds to get off of me.” Sakura’s eye twitched at the blond who was currently attached to her. He got up and helped her to her feet with a sheepish grin on his face. 

“Sorry Sakura, I’m just going to miss you is all.” He had a sad look on his face, and like always Sakura sighed, not able to stay mad at her friend for more than two seconds. Sakura’s eye twitched as she was plucked from her spot on the ground and spun in the air. She was sorely regretting bringing this man back to life. Her fist was brought down on the man's spiky black hair and he dropped her bringing his hands to his head with a pout. Sakura glared at the man-child as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Sakura-chan!” The man whined as she dodged him when he tried to hug her again. 

“Quit it Madara, I have more people than you to say goodbye to.” As if on que people walked up to Sakura and began giving her hugs or handshakes(*cough*Uchiha*cough*). After a long time which seemed to be an hour, the crowd dwindled till only about thirty people were left. The others having jobs and lives to get back to, though Sakura had gotten quite a few gifts from a lot of them. Now only a few of the Uchiha and Senju were left along with many of Sakura’s civilian friends and her teammates. Mikoto walked up to Sakura with teary eyes as she handed her a beautifully wrapped gift. 

“Mikoto you really didn’t need to give me anything.” Sakura insisted, very worried about the amount of gifts she would be able to hold. 

“Of course I had to, you're like a daughter to me Sakura-chan.” Sakura begrudgingly accepted the gift and took out a scroll to seal it, and the pile of gifts behind her in. She gave Mikoto a hug which Fugaku had to forcefully take Mikoto off of her as she was depriving Sakura of air from the force of the hug. Fugaku was the next one to approach Sakura, he handed her a small pack about the size of her palm and patted her on the head rather awkwardly. Sakura grinned up at him and gave him a hug, which he had no idea how to react to. After a few seconds she let go of him and he and his wife began walking back to the Uchiha compound. Sakura waved to them and began to converse with the rest of the people left. It was her civilian friends who left after giving their gifts to her making it only about twenty people left standing at the gate. Hashirama, a man she greatly admired came up to her and patted her on the head with a warm smile gracing his face. 

Sakura’s face heated up at his gesture, which many people laughed at. Hashirama had opted to give her a gift that wasn't wrapped. He handed her a summoning scroll, she knew it wasn't for a summoning creature but other than that she had no idea what it was.

“This is very precious to me, please take good care of it.” Sakura nodded with a smile on her face as he ruffled her hair. Saichi a girl in the Senju clan who was about the same age as Sakura ran up to her and tackled her in a hug. She was much like Naruto in the sense of the outgoing hyperactive personality. However she was also a lot more mature than her knucklehead of a best friend. 

“I really hope you like them.” Saichi handed Sakura a cherry colored case about the size of a large book. Sakura opened the case and grinned a fox like grin at her friend. Inside the case were kunai all with string attached to the loop on the handle. Each Kunai had cherry blossoms carved into them. Sakura took out a Kunai and looked closely at the handle before unscrewing the loop from the handle. She pulled it out to reveal a glass vial connected to the loop. 

“A poison compartment, this is probably the coolest gift.” Saichi smiled then let a frown grace her face as Madara pushed her out of the way. 

“You haven't seen my gift yet Sakura-chan!” Sakura rolled her eyes, she had to many friends like Naruto. Madara held out a scroll and ordered her to open it. Once she did red armor adorned her body, and from the look on Hashirama’s face, he had gotten her the same thing. After a moment of inspecting the armor she realized parts of Madara’s old armor was connected to the other parts of the armor. 

“Okay I’ll admit this is cool, but I can't wear it when I still have people to hug.” Sakura sealed the armor back in the small scroll and put it with Hashirama’s into her pouch. The members of Rookie-nine pushed past Madara tired of waiting their turns and began doling out their gifts. The ones that were wrapped Sakura sealed in what she now dubbed her ‘Gift Scroll’ opting to look at them once she stopped at the first town and got a room at an inn. The three gifts that weren’t wrapped were from Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji. Shikamaru admitting he was too lazy and saw no point in wrapping it gave her a beautiful necklace which she accepted with a small blush. The necklace had pink wire connecting the emeralds that dotted around it. A small flower made of emerald was place expertly in the middle of the necklace. She put the necklace on with a smile and hugged Shikamaru thanking him for the amazing gift. Kiba told her that every time he tried to wrap his gift it turn out terrible so he decided to just give it to her. His gift to her was a fluffy purple-ish sweater much like the one he wore. Sakura smiled and gave him a hug. Choji’s gift was a scroll that was labeled food, she laughed a little at receiving it. He explained to her that it was an almost unlimited amount of food that wouldn't go bad no matter how long it sat out or stayed in the scroll. He told her that if she wanted some to write on the scroll with her blood the amount of food that she wanted. She hugged Choji and told him that when she got back she would buy him as much meat from his favorite restaurant as he wanted, fully aware that she would be broke by the end of one dinner. Choji gave her a wide grin and crushed her in another hug. 

Once she had gotten Ino’s gift her blond friend practically latched onto her and cried for her not to leave. It took Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto and Sasuke to pry her and Madara who joined Ino off of Sakura. Sakura smiled and reassured her friend that she would be back before she knew it. Ino left after her parents said goodbye to Sakura, well not before Ino could instruct Sakura to open her gift as soon as she could as it could aid to her mission. Now the only people left were Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, Madara, Itachi, Saichi, Yamato, Kakashi, Anko, Obito, Minato, Kushina, Hinata and Sai. The rest having gone home or to their jobs, as they did have lives and couldn't stick around any longer. Sakura walked up to her three best friends in the world who looked slightly sad she was leaving. Sai a bit harder to read since he still had his signature fake smile on his face, but all the same she could feel he was a bit sad. Naruto crushed her in a hug and said that he had a gift for her but he wasn't going to give it to her until she got back. Sasuke hit him on the head and Naruto pouted but eventually ended up handing her his gift much to her amusement. 

“Seriously you didn't need to give me a gift, I think I have quite enough.” Sakura smiled at Naruto but he shoved the gift into her hand anyway. She looked at him with surprise as she opened the box, she was expecting Ramen.... not this. She pulled out a very beautiful set of clothes with the Namikaze clan symbol on them. There were a few dresses folded up in the box along with a few pairs of her signature ninja clothes. She looked at him as she put the clothes back in the box and tackled him into a hug. She ignored Madara’s protests and him and Hashirama’s fighting. Naruto hugged her back, this time neither of them fell to the ground. Kushina and Minato smiled at their son and his best friend. Hinata smiled at her boyfriend as he let go of the girl who was basically his sister.

“Thank you so much.” Kushina and Minato walked up to Sakura and gave her their gifts. Kushina had gotten her pretty much daughter two beautiful Kimono’s that looked like they cost a fortune, both of them had the Namikaze clan symbol on the back of them. Minato, opting for something more practical had given her a case of about seven of his famous ‘Flying Thunder God Kunai’. Which Sakura accepted this greatfully with a wide grin on her face. Sasuke was the next person to give her his gift. He of course being an Uchiha dropped it in her hands and crossed his arms over his chest looking away from her as she opened it. She laughed as she now understood the look Sasuke gave Naruto as she looked at her gift. Naruto and Hashirama were very similar in ways you had to really look to see, as was Sasuke and Madara. Sasuke and Naruto had gotten her the same thing. Sakura held up a pile of clothes, each one with the Uchiha symbol somewhere on them. Sakura poked Sasuke on the forehead and gave him a hug which after realizing Sakura wasn't going to let go until he returned it he hugged her back. Sai had practically pushed the Uchiha out of the way, obviously spending too much time with either Naruto or Saichi. He handed her an unwrapped book, when Sakura looked at the title she almost squealed. Sai had somehow found the newest version of her favorite romance series which was sold out the last time she went to the store. She hugged Sai and he stood there awkwardly, still unable to understand why people did such a thing. Kakashi walked up to Sakura and put an arm around her shoulder whispering in her ear and slipping a scroll in her bag. Sakura grinned at Kakashi and hugged the taller man her head reaching his chest.

“I’ll be sure to thoroughly inspect them.” Sakura told Kakashi confusing the other members standing at the gate. Obito walked up to her with a large grin on his scarred face and handed her a red pair of goggles. If he was anyone else Sakura would have laughed at the gift. However because Obito had no idea what to get people as gifts and because goggles for whatever reason were so precious to him she hugged him tightly and put the goggles on letting them rest on the top of her head. Hinata walked up to Sakura shyly and handed her a bracelet with purple gems on it. Hinata blushed shyly as Sakura gave her a bear hug, which after a moment she hesitantly returned. Anko practically pushed the shy girl out of the way and handed Sakura a case of senbon. She ruffled Sakura’s pink hair and stepped out of the way for Yamato. Yamato ruffled her hair, she was having a lot of people doing that today. He pulled out a scroll labeled tea which Sakura accepted excitedly as she stuffed it into her bag wanting to use it as soon as she could. From the multiple missions they went on together, Yamato had learned about all her favorite things. Tea was on the top of that list, next to dango of course. She turned to Itachi, not at all expecting to be almost hit in the head by the gift he tossed her. She caught it with surprise and looked at it with wonder. He had given her a Katana with a dark cherry red case. The black and gold handle had a string with a scroll attached to it. The scroll like all of the others she had received had the name of what resided in it. 

Sakura smiled as she read ‘Reading Material’ that was written beautifully in black ink across the scroll. She then unsheathed the Katana halfway to look at the metal and sweatdropped at what she saw. Cherry blossoms were carved into the blade in numerous places. With all of the weapons she had with cherry blossoms carved into them, she could probably open a store. She smiled at him and nodded, knowing full well how Itachi felt about physical contact. She almost reeled back in surprise as she felt his lips on her forehead but as soon as they came they left. Itachi leaned back again with a small blush gracing his face as he slightly turned away from her. Her mouth hung open and as did everyone else’s. She couldn't blame them, a kiss from Itachi Uchiha, even on the forehead was like a full blown make out session from a normal person. Which is why right after Sakura’s face exploded into red. 

The silence was then broken by Madara’s whining, which ended up in Hashirama whacking the immature Uchiha upside the head. This of course resulted into the two of them giving each other a verbal lashing. Sakura rolled her eyes at them and walked up to Itachi giving him a peck on the cheek and began walking out of the gate waving goodbye to everyone as she could not prolong her mission any more. She strapped the Katana to her side, the opposite of her pouch, and stuffed the scroll into her pouch. She laughed as she turned around to see Hashirama being dragged away from Madara by Saichi and Madara being dragged away by Obito and Sasuke as Itachi waved goodbye to her. Sakura waved back with her cheeks still stained blood red. Another laugh escaped her mouth as Madara face planted into the ground during his struggle to get back to Hashirama. Those to were idiots who fought each other a lot, however they also respected each other, much like Naruto respected Sasuke and Vise versa. Because of the two clan leaders mutual respect with each other and for their village they stopped the elders from doing anything that would result in a massacre. They were the only two people who could stop the elders with one word. This was precisely the reason why they were brought back to life, and they were rather glad to be. They hated the idea of what their clan elders were doing, the old coocs had been planning to try and take over Konoha and kill the opposing clan. 

Sakura smiled at the memory of Madara barely raising his voice and glaring at them uttering one word which made them look like they were about to piss themselves. Once Madara caught them scheming, Sakura and him had been walking around the house together then. He had opened the door, his Sharingan spinning dangerously and sneered at them.

“Idiots.” Was the only thing he said, judging from the look on the elders faces, it was the only thing he had to say. Sakura smiled again at the fond memories, yes she was definitely going to miss this.

****

Sakura scratched the back of her head sheepishly as she looked at the mess she had created. Next to her was an old lady whom Sakura had accidentally run into, causing mentioned old lady to drop all five of her grocery bags on the ground.

“I am so sorry, I really didn’t mean to run into you I was just lost in thought and wasn't paying attention to where I was going.” Sakura let a smile go to her face under her blood red mask. 

“Never mind that you brat just help me up!” The woman screeched as she glared at Sakura. Sakura hurriedly helped the woman to her feet and started to quickly re bag the groceries that fell to the ground. The old woman huffed and smacked Sakura on the back of the head. “Watch where you're going, next time you might bump into someone who is far less forgiving.” The woman scolded Sakura like a mother would to a child. Sakura chuckled and nodded her head. 

“Do you want me to carry your bags and walk you home, It’ll be payback for me running into you.” The woman shook her head and grabbed her bags from Sakura’s hands.

“I may be old but I’m not helpless, besides it looks like you have a rather important task to finish.” Sakura gave her a questioning look. “The look of determination in your eyes, the longing to prove yourself and the way your dressed.” The woman looked over Sakura’s red mask, all black ninja garb and the katana strapped to her side. “You're obviously a ninja on a very important mission.” Sakura looked at the woman in disbelief for a moment then let a small smile go to her face. She grabbed the bags back from the woman and grinned at her. 

“I have time to spare.” The woman rolled her eyes and started leading the way to her house. The two walked in a comfortable silence as they made their way through town. The woman suddenly stopped in front of a white two story house.

“This is my stop, thank you-.” The woman picked up her bags and looked at Sakura expectantly. 

“Oh, where are my manners, the name’s Sakura Haruno, it was a pleasure to meet you.” The woman rolled her eyes at the girls enthusiasm. 

“Thank you Sakura-san, now be on your way.” The woman went into her house and Sakura walked away toward the exit of the village. Sakura might be a bit late to Waterfall but she didn't care, she was enjoying the time off without being particularly tied down to her village. A smile placed itself on her face and she hummed a quiet tune while she walked toward the village gates. 

That night Sakura camped about twelve miles from waterfall, of course she could have made it to the village in about two minutes but she decided she would rather spend a night under the stars. It would after all be her first night as a free ninja she wanted to enjoy it. She she set up camp which included a small fire and a sleeping bag laid out on the ground with her pack beside it. She camped by a pond that had a lot of fish inside of it so she was able to get dinner without using any of her other provisions. As she ate her fish and looked up at the stars the only thought that was running through her head was ‘I’m free, I am finally free.’

Sakura woke with a start the next morning pushing her blanket off of her and propelling herself into a roll backwards. A large blade sunk into the ground where she was currently laying down. She whipped out a kunai and flicked her wrist making senbon fall to the ground that had sailed toward her. A smile placed itself on her face as she looked her enemy up and down, he looked pretty strong, and strangely familiar. He had white hair and a maniac grin on his face as he ripped his weapon out of the ground. 

“The first day out of town and I’m already being attacked I must have a bigger reputation than I thought.” The man’s grin widened. 

“No Idea what you're talking about bitch, I just thought you’d make a good sacrifice.” To this Sakura’s smile widened and she pulled her Katana out of its sheath. 

“Your a Jashinist, Then that just makes this even more fun.” Hidan's eyes widened for a moment then his grin widened and amusement shone in his pink orbs. Hidan flew forward with his scythe and swung the blades towards Sakura’s right side. Sakura shunshined when the blade was about an inch from her skin making it impossible for Hidan to stop mid swing. Sakura appeared behind him and landed a kick to the back of his head causing him to roll forward and his head to connect to a tree. It took Sakura a moment to realize that his head hit the tree so hard that it made a hole that it was currently stuck in. So it was in that moment that Sakura decided to do the only useful thing Kakashi had taught her... well not the only useful thing but by far the most useful. 

Two minutes later Hidan had finally gotten his head out of the hole in the tree and grabbed his scythe. He turned around and prepared to charge forward but instead stopped and stared at the sight before him. Sakura had put her Katana back in its sheath and instead had a kunai in her hand. In her other she held a small orange book, but that wasn't the most surprising thing. What was surprising was that she now had a piece of cloth covering one eye and she didn't even seem like she was paying attention to him anymore. A tick mark appeared on Hidan's forehead at the thought. He was pissed that she thought she could be so relaxed when someone like him was attacking her. So he charged forward with anger instead of excitement and to this Sakura smirked. 

Kakashi’s ninja rule’s:

#25; Agitate the enemy anyway you can to make them lose focus because of their anger.

Sakura remembered that rule well, it was one of the reasons Kakashi read his book during fights. It made the enemy think that he thought they weren't worth the effort so they would get pissed and anger would cloud their judgment. Hidan charged at her and she avoided the heavy swings of his scythe with ease. She was actually pretty surprised at how well he used his weapon, Scythes were not common weapons in battle, they really weren’t meant for that sort of combat. Yet this rogue ninja seemed to use the weapon extremely well and with practiced ease. Though using it against a normal opponent and using it against someone like Sakura were two completely different things. He swung his scythe at her another time and she dropped kicked the part opposite of the blades causing the scythe to embed itself deep in the ground. Hidan tried to yank the scythe out of the ground but to no avail, it was completely stuck. 

“You know for an S-class criminal you're not that hard of an opponent to beat.” Hidan glared at her, and if looks could kill Sakura would already be six feet under. 

“Shut up bitch!”

“That’s not very nice, you might make me cry.” Sakura pouted and put both her hands up by her eyes to fake cry. Needless to say he got even more pissed and charged at her again. Sakura was getting tired of the fight that seemed to be going nowhere so with a sigh she jumped out of the way and punched him in the back of the head with so much force that he flew forward. His head connected with a rock making the rock crack and make him slip into unconsciousness.

“Only the first day and I think I made a new friend.” Sakura smiled to herself as she sauntered over to Hidan's body and hoisted him over her shoulder. She walked to his scythe and effortlessly ripped it out of the ground. She set Hidan down on her sleeping bag (which now had a giant rip in it) and set his scythe down next to him. She then proceeded to clean up the things she was no longer using and started to set up breakfast. By the time Hidan woke up an hour later the camp was completely clean and Sakura was changed into different clothes. There was also a very good looking breakfast resting over the fire to keep it warm. He was about to get up and attack when a bowl was shoved into his hands. 

“You should eat you've been out for an hour and you're bound to have a headache, this will most likely get rid of that.” He stared at the bowl and looked at Sakura as if she had grown two heads. “Why are you so hesitant, it’s not like I poisoned it, and even if I did you can't die anyway.” Hidan stared at the food for a little bit then decided to screw common sense and grabbed a pair of chopsticks and started eating. After they ate Sakura asked Hidan if he wanted to travel with her. 

“Why the hell would I travel with you bitch?” He asked incredulously having no Idea why someone he just tried to kill would ask him such a thing.

“I’ll pay for lodgings and food.” Sakura offered with a small smile.

“Why the fuck would you do that for someone that just tried to kill you?” Hidan couldn't lie he was suspicious and he was pretty sure anyone in this same situation would be as well.

“Because I don’t want to be alone, it’s always so boring.” Sakura answered honestly. “Besides, you look like you could use some company, Old-man,” Sakura said with a smile as she started to walk away from the now empty clearing with her pack on her back. Hidan’s eyebrow twitched and he chased after her grabbing his scythe on the way.

“I’m not old I’m 23 you damn brat!” Hidan shouted as he put his scythe on his back and crossed his arms over his chest with a huff.

“Really because that grey hair says otherwise.” Sakura smiled innocently like she didn't just insult an S-class criminal. 

“It’s silver not grey.” Sakura laughed as she remembered having this exact argument many times before with a certain silver haired Jounin. 

“Sure it is.” Sakura rolled her eyes making sure Hidan saw her.

“It is!” Hidan seemed to go from a shinobi with extreme bloodlust to a five year old in a matter of minutes and Sakura couldn't help but find it adorable. 

~Meanwhile in Konoha~

Tsunade sat in a chair around a large table as she listened to ‘the old-bats’ as she liked to call them, argue about useless things. She really didn't understand why she had to participate in these meetings. Sure she was Hokage but she would rather be finishing a mountain of paperwork than to be stuck in a stuffy room with a bunch of old people that all had sticks shoved up their asses. Tsunade let out a sigh which seemed to catch the attention of a few people at the table.  
“Do you have something to say Tsunade-hime.” Tsunade looked boredly out the window ignoring the council members. She wasn't in the mood to talk to any of them especially after what they made her do to Sakura, or more specifically what Danzou made her do. Tsunade's fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white as she thought about her apprentice. 'She didn't deserve it, she didn't deserve to have that done to her.' Tsunade fumed, partly because of what she was forced to do but mostly because she didn't fight harder to stop it. Tsunade was well aware that the council was trying to get her attention as she let out another sigh. She stood up and walked out the door to go wreck havoc on a training field.


	2. Grifting and Drinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura meets someone new and gets to spend some time with a few old friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I promised, a better written chapter. I'm trying to keep the chapter sizes around the same length but it will get a bit harder later on. Especially is some chapters flow better ending it short or long.

After a few hours of walking they had made it to a small village near the border of Fire country. They entered the unprotected gate and the looks they got as they stepped foot inside where quite comical. People seemed to be very scared of Hidan, which was understandable since he had a giant scythe on his back and was an S-Class rogue. Sakura didn't really care about the looks though, she just talked with Hidan normally. Though when she looked at the grin on his face that she knew was hiding something she imagined that he might be tired of it by now. So Sakura did the only thing she could do, she glared at each and every person giving them a wrong look while Hidan was looking away. After that the streets seemed to get a bit deserted, the only people staying were ninja, or bounty hunters. 

Sakura looked around at the remaining people and at the frown that marred Hidan’s face. She could tell that something bad was definitely going to happen soon.

“What do we have here boys, two S-class criminals who lost their way.” A man with a large battle axe strapped to his back exclaimed with a large grin on his face. Sakura sighed, as much as she loved battle when she looked at the seven or so men that surrounded them she didn't see a challenge. The only thing she saw when she looked at them was pathetic cowards hiding behind weapons. Each of them had very large weapons strapped somewhere on their bodies and would have looked intimidating to any other people. However they had the mark of Bounty hunters, not ninja. There were only two bounty hunters Sakura had met that gave her a good fight, and they would probably be the only ones to ever do so. Sakura looked over at Hidan to see the previous blood lust she saw in his eyes while fighting her completely diminished. There wasn't even fire behind those peculiar colored eyes. In fact he just looked as unimpressed as she was. There was one thing that always stuck in her mind from Kakashi’s teachings more than the rest. He told her once when she was young and filled with blood lust that some battles are just not worth fighting especially when you know one hundred percent that you can win them.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the boys and their toys that looked as if they were trying to be men. She motioned toward a bar telling Hidan that they could go there for lunch and started walking. Hidan looked the men over once more with bored eyes and began walking as well. It took a moment for the bounty hunters to realize what had just happened but when they did the leader charged with all his might toward Sakura. Hidan didn't even move to help when the large axe the man held went sailing down towards her form. For a split second the axe looked like it was going to hit her and the man smiled. Though when his axe stopped it’s momentum and he looked down to see Sakura holding the blade with ease he almost panicked. 

Well he would have if he really had time to, though Sakura made sure that he didn't. Sakura shattered the metal of the blade like glass in her hand and grabbed the handle pulling it forward and the man with it and kneed him in the stomach. His breath shot out of him as he sailed backwards into an alleyway. Once his back connected with the brick of the dead end the speed he was going and the strength he was hit made him sail right through it. The debris scattered along the ground as he hit a chain fence and created a large dent in it but stopped moving. His body started twitching from the pain but after a moment it stopped.  Sakura looked at the rest of the men with uninterested eyes for a brief moment before turning on her heel and walking towards the bar with Hidan. The men didn't even try to fight them after that. Sakura had planned it that way, ending a fight before it really started was always a good way to deal with people weaker than you.

“So old man, mind telling me how you became a rogue?” Sakura questioned Hidan as they walked into the bar and sat in a booth in the corner. 

“Not really much to tell brat, my village fucked me over so I fucking left.” Before Sakura could say anything more a waitress walked hesitantly up to their table. Sakura and Hidan could tell she was scared, her hands were shaking as she held her notepad. Though Sakura realized she was definitely only sacred of Hidan. Though considering the fact that she was a civilian and he had his scythe rested against the wall inside the booth it was sort of understandable. 

“What would you two like?” She asked nervously staring at the weapon from the corner of her eyes. 

“Jasmine tea and some dango,” Sakura said with a bit of excitement at the thought of food. She looked over to Hidan who didn't say anything and stared at the wall bordely. “That's all thanks.” The women walked away quickly and handed the order to the cook behind the bar. Sakura looked at Hidan curiously as he closed his eyes and rested his chin on his hand. He seemed to be in his own world so Sakura just sat back in her chair and waited for her order to be ready. Hidan was certainly an interesting person and from when she first met him and saw how insane he looked. She really wasn't expecting anything else, but Hidan had many different sides that he showed when he pleased. It had been only an hour and he had gone through a few. He could be funny and intelligent and calm and peaceful despite what you would think from what he looked like. Sakura looked at the peaceful look on his face and a warm smile graced her lips, she had definitely picked the perfect travel companion.

*****

Then again maybe she had chosen the worst traveling companion of all time. Hidan, she had figured out since she ate and they left the bar had these sort of  _ moods.  _ He was completely bipolar but at the same time she knew he could choose whether he wanted to feel that way or not. After they had left his peaceful mood had turned into an annoying childlike one. He bugged her on everything and tried to attack anyone who gave him even a wrong look. It was extremely confusing to keep up with his tantrums.

“So this fucker’s head just rips clean off his body and I’m like what the fuck man him and I weren't fucking finished so I have to zip up my goddamn pants while this guy attacks me, I mean fuck man I didn't even get to finish.” Sakura heaved a sigh and turned to Hidan. 

“As wonderful as this conversation is Hidan, I would absolutely love it if you would refrain from spewing out your ‘conquests.’ in front of children.” Sakura motioned to the scared children they were passing as they passed by the park. Hidan rolled his eyes and flipped her off causing her to sigh again. He was amusing to listen to sure but Sakura had a bit of a rule against cursing near children. “Where the fuck are we even going?” Hidan put his arms behind his head and yawned because of boredom. 

“We are going towards Waterfall so I can turn in a scroll.” Hidan looked at her curiously.

“Wait, so are you actually from a village?” He asked with confusion. Sakura understood his confusion, anyone as powerful as her with no Hitai-ate would most likely automatically be considered a rogue. 

“Yeah, well sort of, I have been given a mission which if completed will grant me the privilege of basically doing whatever I want as long as I don't break the law, I will be able to travel the world without having hunter nin’s on my tail and experience actual freedom without it being for a short time, no missions but I still get payed, no dealing with annoying people. I’ll be free.” Sakura explained with a small smile on her lips. Hidan looked at her and rolled his eyes, he didn't quite understand why she didn't just leave her village if she wanted to be free. She looked like she would definitely be strong enough to take out any hunter nin’s that came after her. 

“I know what you're thinking but I actually have friends in my village and I would very much like to visit them anytime I want.” Sakura looked at Hidan with amusement in her eyes at the surprised look he gave her. “What did you expect something different?” She asked with amusement lacing her voice. She looked at Hidan from the corner of her eye and saw him sort of ignoring her. Sakura sighed and stuffed her hands in her pockets, this guy and his mood swings. They walked through the village until they got through the gates and Sakura stopped for a moment. She glanced at Hidan and he nodded a little, they both felt it. They were being followed. With that in mind they kept walking toward their destination both seemingly unaware of the people tracking them. Sakura was actually rather curious as to who they were, they didn't seem as weak as the men that attacked them earlier. There were about four of them and they seemed actual fairly strong, at least with masking their presences. Sakura actually had to use a bit of chakra to know if they were there for sure. 

After a bit of walking and Sakura realizing that she should probably just get turning the scroll in over with. The two of them decided to cut their travel time in half by running. Sakura was curious if the four people following them would be able to keep up. 

“You know who they are don’t you.” Sakura stated when Hidan and her were running side by side. He didn't say anything and Sakura glanced at him. “You don't seem the slightest bit curious or nervous about the people following us, and that isn't because you think you're strong enough to take them.” Sakura jumped over a large rock protruding out of the trail they were on. 

“They’re fucking hunter nin from my old bitch-ass village.” Sakura nodded but kept running, she didn't want to waste her time on hunter ninja’s. 

“Okay then, why don’t we get them off our trail.” Sakura winked grabbed his hand and flash stepped toward waterfall. Waterfall being right outside fire country's borders was easy and fast to get to. Though since she was with an S-class criminal it was a little harder, only because Hidan refused to use a henge. “Fucking hell Hidan all you have to do is change your height hair and eye color, is that so hard?” Sakura asked exasperated because he was being so difficult. 

“Hell yeah it is, I’m not using a disguise just to go into a shitty ass village!” Sakura sighed and facepalmed but composed herself. 

“Fine then but if we get attacked you’re dealing with it.” Sakura walked toward the village gates crossing her arms over her chest angrily.             

They walked into waterfall after Sakura handed in her ID scroll and the guards let them pass giving Hidan a skeptical look as they did. Sakura ignored them for the most part and Hidan trying to piss her off tried to pick a fight with them because of the looks they were giving him. Sakura grabbed him by the strap connected to his scythe and pulled him forcibly through the gates with her. 

“You know I might just leave you to get arrested if you pick fights just to piss me off.” Sakura glared at him and he grinned mockingly. “Or kill you myself.” She muttered with a sigh. Sakura and Hidan looked through the village Sakura wanting to see more of it incase she had to leave right after giving the Kage the scroll. Ignoring Hidan’s protest Sakura decided that she wanted to go to lunch. Going down street after street as Hidan talked her ear off with complaints Sakura finally managed to find some place to eat. 

“Oh come on Hidan, you cannot tell me you aren’t hungry.” Sakura pouted and he smirked. 

“I am, I just really enjoy annoying you.” Sakura’s eye twitched in agitation as she walked into the small tea shop.

“Noted, now next time you do it I have full justification in hurting you.” Sakura smiled at him and he rolled his eyes. 

“Kid you couldn't hurt me if you tried, Immortal remember.” Hidan stuck his tongue out at her childishly and she punched him in the gut knocking the air out of him. 

“You were saying?” She asked as she tried not to fall to his knees. He looked at her holding his stomach and grinned widely.

“Bitch I live for this kind of pain.” Sakura furrowed her brows and slightly stepped away from him. 

“So you're a masochist, great to fucking know.” She muttered under her breath and straightened up slightly when a waitress came over to guide them to a table. A cute preppy blonde girl who reminded Sakura slightly of Ino. She smiled at both of them not seeming scared of hidan and his giant scythe. In fact Sakura noticed she was looking directly at Hidan as he stood up. 

“Table for two then?” The waitress asked and Sakura nodded gesturing them to follow her. They did being seated at one of the corner tables and given their menus. “Would you like anything to drink or do you still need a minute?” The woman asked staring admiringly at Hidan, who Sakura had just noticed was pretty much shirtless. Hidan seemed to ignore her as he looked at Sakura waiting for her to order. 

“I’ll take a pot of the strongest black tea you have.” The waitress looked at Sakura and nodded then looked back at Hidan. 

“The same.” He looked out into space closing his eyes slightly as he thought. The waitress nodded looking at him for a moment before she composed herself and smiled. 

“I’ll have those right out and be back for your other orders.” Sakura nodded and looked at Hidan. With the way that woman was staring at him you’d think he somehow formed into a god or something. Sakura observed him and squinted her eyes not really understanding why that woman was so enamored with him. She supposed he was attractive, however he definitely wasn't her type at all. She glanced at the woman at the counter busying herself with orders and back at Hidan.

“She’s cute.” She stated and Hidan snapped out of his thoughts and glared at her. 

“Crossing the line.” Sakura smirked a little at that and leaned forward.

“What all I said was she was cute, and obviously totally adores you.” He clenched his fists and Sakura smirked even more. “You know we might be here for a few days, I’m sure she’d be more than happy if you visited her~” Sakura wiggled her eyebrows playfully and he slammed his fist on the table loudly silencing the whole tea shop. Sakura looked at him plainly stilling leaning slightly over the table as he glared at her. “Fine, fine I’ve had my fun I’ll stop.” She put her hands up in surrender with a small smile on her face. 

“Good.” He turned back and began staring off into space again. 

“Though out of curiosity, why?” He didn’t even look at her as she spoke. 

“None of your business.” Hidan, was usually pretty much an open book so when he said that, Sakura backed completely off. Afterall if something was a secret to a man as loud and outspoken as that, it must be one hell of a price to pay for speaking it.

****           

Sakura and Hidan navigated through the village until they finally found the main officials building smack in the middle of the village. 

“You know you suck with directions.” Chimed Hidan as they walked inside. 

“Shut up I’ve never been here before.” Sakura tried defending herself but Hidan just scoffed. 

“You had to ask three people where the building was because you kept getting lost, three people who gave you pretty damn good directions but fucking no, you just couldn't understand them so you had to ask two more times.” Hidan rolled his eyes as Sakura huffed childishly. 

“Excuse me but do you two have something to do here?” A woman behind the reception desk asked. Sakura walked over to her with a smile on her face. 

“Yes actually, I was instructed by the Hokage to give this scroll to whoever is in charge, so if you could point me toward them that would be lovely.” Sakura said politely and with a little bit of aloofness making the woman trust her enough to point her in the main offices direction. “Thank you miss.” Sakura walked down the hall putting a slight bounce in her feet as she did to add to the effect of acting like a child. Hidan followed her slightly amused and once they rounded the corner she began to walk normally. 

“You are one manipulative bitch you know that.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets with an amused smirk on his face.

“You know, I’m going to ignore the fact that that sounded like an insult.” Sakura walked up the first flight of stairs passing a few people on the way toward the second one. Sakura didn't understand the real reason why all of the men they passed slightly stared at her before literally running away from them. Every time she looked at Hidan questioningly with slight amusement in her eyes he shrugged hiding the fact that his peculiar colored eyes would glare down the men whose gazes lingered too long on her. He had after all spotted her glaring down the people who gave him odd looks and blatantly began whispering about him. He thought that returning the favor would be best. Not to mention he got pissed every time someone looked at a girl like they were a damn piece of meat. Blame that on growing up in a house full of women. It took them another minute and two flights of stairs to get to two large double doors. Sakura walked forward knocking on the door.

“Come in.” A voice Sakura assumed to be the village leader Hisen slightly yelled. Sakura opened the door and walked inside Hidan following her. Sakura smiled at the man and flicked her eyes to the side to see two men on each side of the door. 

“It is an honor to meet you sir I have come to give you this by order of my Hokage.” Sakura bowed politely and her eye twitched as I blade was brought to Hidan’s throat. For the sake of diplomacy Sakura stayed still while she tried containing her ever growing anger. 

“I’m sure you don’t mind, seeing as we are entitled to do far worse to someone like him, you should be grateful the knife is only resting on the skin.” Sakura grit her teeth keeping the smile on her face as she looked at the Kage's advisor. She walked up to Sakura with a clipboard in her hand and a calculative arrogance in her eyes. 

“Of- course, now about the scroll-” She was cut off in speaking as she saw the woman start picking at Hidan. Sakura knew exactly what she was doing; assessing him medically in the most complex way. A way that as a medical professional she was sworn with everyone else in her profession to never do without permission from the patient. They would quickly with one touch of the skin extract chakra or blood from the patient for quick analysis. Some said that even medical professionals if highly enough trained would be able to decipher things in the blood or chakra just by looking at it. In this case Sakura assumed she was on of them, and trying to figure out the secret to Hidan’s immortality. Afterall, it was a rare opportunity to have a living Jashinist willingly waltz into their village like this. 

“How rude of you, you may have some rights to how you are able to treat an S-class Rogue that comes into your village, but as a medical professional those rights do not include what you are doing now.” Sakura turned toward her with a hand on her hip and an unimpressed look on her face. “Chakra picking without permission from the patient is strictly forbidden, so unless Hidan here filled out all of the necessary paperwork in the last five minutes we have been here or Waterfall ended up changing their laws.” The woman seemed to be feigning innocence until she felt a rush of air and the Sakura in front of her had disappeared. She then felt metal grind harshly on the skin of her upper back. “I would stop touching him and get rid of the samples you have collected unless you want this knife to drive up your back and pierce your heart.” Sakura’s voice was barely a whisper as she spoke with fire raging in her eyes. The woman dropped her hands to her side as she lost grip of the clipboard in her hand. Sakura felt several bodies come from the shadows attempting to go toward her.

“Enough.” The ninja quickly sheathed their weapons and once again disappeared along with the one who had the blade to Hidan’s neck. 

“I meant no disrespect Hisen-sama, however you must understand that laws are laws even when the person you are dealing with is an S-class Rogue.” Sakura stepped away from the woman flipping the kunai she had up her sleeve. 

“Of course, if I had known she was doing such a thing I would have stopped her myself.” His eyes flicked toward his assistant and she picked up her clipboard quickly leaving the room.

“I’m sure.” Sakura smiled trying to keep her accusation hidden, the man after all was lying through his teeth. She took out the scroll again and set it on his desk eyeing it with some degree of suspicion. Sakura wasn't an idiot, she had been wondering from the beginning why she was given these scrolls. Why she had to make all of these stops, Sakura wasn’t told anything about them. Though she was curious she was never one to completely break the first rule of a mission. Never look inside what you are transporting unless specifically told so by the client. Sakura leaned back on her heels putting her hands in her pockets as she realized Hidan had been unusually quiet for a while. She glanced over at him to see his pink eyes squinting in confusion. Before she could open her mouth to say something Hidan looked at her and flicked his eyes back to the corner of the room. Sakura followed his line of sight and almost audibly sighed. In the corner of the room was a small sitting area with a couch and a small table. On the wooden table were several Icha Icha books stacked on top of eachother. 

_ “Did all Kages have to be such perverts.”  _ Though she supposed she had no right to talk. She did after all read the same series, but that was definitely more Kakashi’s doing than anything. Sakura heard the rustling of paper making her eyes go back to the Kage. He set the scroll back on his desk with a heavy sigh and rubbed his eyes. 

“Bring me Kakuzu.” A figure dropped from the ceiling and nodded disappearing in a puff of smoke. Moments later there was a knock on the door and Hisen ordered the person to enter. Sakura smirked as he entered and she peered at him with childlike wonder. 

“Wow the great Kakuzu, I hear your bounty is quite high.” Sakura mused and she felt Hidan grab her arm pulling her instinctively closer to him. Hidan, despite just meeting the man and not hearing one word from him felt a deep seeded hatred for him. So beyond his better judgement felt the need to put as much distance between himself and that man as possible. Hence pulling Sakura in front of him, not to protect her, but himself. Kakuzu ignored the two only glancing at them for a moment because of the ridiculous pink mess on top of Sakura’s head. 

“You summoned me Hisen-sama.” Kakuzu’s voice was monotone as he spoke seeming completely like a brainwashed shinobi. Sakura frowned at that but narrowed her eyes as she looked closer to his hands almost completely covered by his cloak. Though he had dark skin she could see blistering white on his knuckles from how much he was clenching his fists. A smirk replaced her frown as she realized exactly what he was like. Calm on the outside, someone who seems good at taking orders from a village. On the inside however there was a raging fire protesting and searing at the absurd thought of taking order from those weaker than him. Sakura knew these things were instinctive and hard to let go of, because she felt the exact same way. 

“Yes, you have a new assignment one that will last six years, by the end of which you will be given freedom to travel anywhere while still remaining a shinobi from this village,” His clenched fists slowly loosened with each word he retained. “You will still be paid but without having to complete missions, you will be free to do as you wish, for the rest of your life, do you accept.” He hesitated and held the glimmer of joy back from his eyes. His hands slightly shook and in that moment Sakura saw it. That longing for freedom in his bright green eyes that seemed to flash through endless possibilities for him. He contained himself smothering anything that could make him seem weak. Nodding his head and standing straight looking at the man in front of him. For once without anger, without the tug of rebellion he always seemed to feel he said three words that would change his future forever. 

“I accept Hisen-sama.” Sakura stared at the exchange before her with narrowed eyes. 

“So then, that's what these scrolls are for, of course she wouldn’t let me do this on my own.” A sigh escaped her lips and she tried walking out of the room but found that Hidan was still holding her arm. “You can let go of me now Hidan.” She raised a brow as he didn't respond. Looking up at him she realized his eyes were completely narrowed at Kakuzu and she sighed once again. She yanked her arm out of his hold and glared at all of them angrily. “I’ll see you at the hotel tonight, don’t come find me before then.” Sakura disappeared in a whirl of cherry blossoms and appeared outside of the building. She puffed in anger and crossed her arms over her chest as she walked toward the hot spring she had in mind. 

****

She had been trying to go to the hotsprings, but now she actually had no idea where the hell she was. She hated to admit it, but she was horrible with directions when she was in a village. When she was traveling to one she was fine, mostly because everything was so big and she knew the general direction of where she wanted to go, knowing she would find her destination eventually. She groaned as she leaned against a building knowing she was completely and utterly lost.

“Sakura?” At hearing her name Sakura looked up and grinned at who she saw. 

“Rin!” She walked up to her and hugged her tightly much to Rin’s amusement.

“It’s good to see you too, what are you doing here all alone?” Rin questioned as they separated.

“On a mission.” Sakura left out the part about her being gone for six years because she didn't want to worry Rin. Rin who was like an older sister to her would probably freak out. “And you?” She questioned and Rin held up a satchel.

“There was a plague in Ame that I was called in to help with, you would have been too if you weren't already on a mission then, it’s all dealt with but I just needed to get the samples to make more antidote just in case it began to spread anywhere else.” Sakura nodded with wonder. 

“A new plague, how intriguing, too bad I wasn't able to come help.” Rin dug in her bag and tossed a jar of what Sakura assumed was pure toxin to her. It was purple and looked to be the consistency of water. Sakura studied it with interest turning the jar around. “So then was it in the water supply?” She questioned as she swirled it around. 

“Yes, and I have my suspicions of how it got there.” Rin crossed her arms over her chest with a frown placed on her lips. “What mission were you on?” She asked curiously as Sakura gave the jar back to her. 

“Not really something I can talk about, but I can tell you it had to do with the coupe that happened in Tea Country.” Rin smiled in the slightest as she thought of Sakura’s inclinations. 

“Well then, you seemed to do a good job.” Sakura smiled and waved her off in embarrassment at the compliment. “So where are you headed now?” Sakura thought the question over which made Rin smile. “Don't tell me you’re lost again Sakura?” At that question Sakura looked at the ground making Rin chuckle. 

“It’s not my fault, this place is confusing!” Sakura tried defending herself making Rin laugh more. 

“Alright alright, where were you trying to go?” Rin asked and Sakura sighed. 

“I was looking for the hot springs.” Rin blinked disbelievingly at her which made Sakura confused. “What?” She questioned and Rin sighed. 

“Sakura.” She pointed to the building Sakura was leaning against. Sakura turned and sighed dropping to the ground and burying her face in her hands. There right behind Sakura was a large building with a sign right above Sakura’s head saying ‘Jasmine Hot Springs’. Rin burst out in peels of laughter as Sakura groaned. Sakura looked at Rin as she grabbed her arm and brought her to her feet. “Come on let's go.” Rin smiled as she brought her through the entrance of the hot springs.

****

Hidan was forced to stay with the new member of their party after Sakura disappeared. Afterall he did not want to find out what she would do to him if he went after her. He thought over it again and a grin slowly made its way to her face, or maybe he did. He glanced to his left to see eyes on him and he frowned. 

“You look like an idiot grinning about nothing.” The man to his left stated making him scowl. 

“At least I don't look like an idiot every second of the day.” He countered making Kakuzu roll his eyes. 

“Ah yes of course, you just act like an idiot every second of the day.” And that’s how the fight started. 

****

    Sakura sighed in content as she slipped into the hot water. Hearing a small splash beside her told her that Rin had followed right after. Sakura looked up at the slowly darkening sky as the steam wafted up through the air around her. Her thoughts began to wander as she stared at the sky. Thinking back to the pitying look she was given from Tsunade when she thought she wasn’t looking. It didn't make sense, unless sending her out of the village was their main plan. Sakura didn’t know who ‘they’ were exactly, she figured maybe the elders. Now that she thought about it, elders from clans, villages, the like, always seemed like a bad idea. They always seemed to screw things up in the end. If she could have her own village she would make sure there were no elders, only elected officials. Then again she had been to countries with elected officials before as well, people were just too corrupted and rotten to be put in positions of power. Sakura blinked in surprise at a hand waving in front of her face. She straightened and looked toward Rin with wide curious eyes. 

“I’ve been calling your name for three minutes, you okay?” Sakura smiled softly and nodded her head. 

“Yeah I’m good, sorry about that, guess I was lost in thought.” Rin pursed her lips unbelieving at Sakura. When all Sakura seemed to do was look back at the sky she let a sigh exit her lips. Sakura had never been the most open person but she wasn’t closed off and cold either. So if Sakura said nothing was wrong Rin would leave it alone so she wouldn’t overstep her boundaries with her. 

“How are you and Itachi-kun?” Rin questioned slyly as she smirked. Sakura rolled her eyes and tried to hide the blush that threatened to appear on her cheeks. 

“Itachi is fine, though he was a bit irritated that I would be leaving for such a long time.” Sakura cursed under her breath at the look Rin gave her. In an effort to stray away from the topic of what Rin was trying to imply, she accidentally let that sentence slip. 

“And exactly how long are you going to be gone?” Rin raised a brow and Sakura sighed. 

“Approximately six years.” Sakura looked at Rin wondering if she would blow up on her and complain. Rin looked up at the sky with a sigh and nodded in understanding. 

“That’s quite a lot of time, I’m guessing Itachi really did freak out then?” Sakura nodded after a moment and smiled slightly. 

“Yeah he did, at first he tried to come with me.” Sakura chuckled. “I guess I’m going to miss you guys.” Rin couldn’t help smile back at Sakura as she grinned at her. 

“Make sure you come back.” Sakura nodded with a slight roll of her eyes. 

“Where the hell else would I go?” A moment later the wall to her left was busted through by a flying body that ended up on her lap in the water. Sakura blinked in surprise and looked forward as the person currently sitting on her cursed loudly and attempted to get out of the hot springs. She looked at the silver haired zealot and raised a brow as he tried but failed to get himself out of the water landing once again on her lap. She didn’t really care much about the interruption, seeing as she was wearing a towel. 

“Um might I ask why exactly you are being thrown through walls Hidan?” Sakura asked with a tinge of amusement in her voice. As if just noticing her Hidan turned and glared though before he could speak a hand connected to black strings shot out and grabbed Hidan by the neck pulling him out of the water. Sakura sighed and looked over at Rin who was out of the water already and covering herself with a towel. Shaking her head Sakura vaulted out of the water and walked toward the changing room. “I’m sorry about that Rin, those two are idiots.” Sakura motioned toward Hidan and Kakuzu who were trying to kill each other outside. Rin didn't question it, after meeting only a handful of the people Sakura knew outside of the village, she learned not to ask questions about them. Rin sighed and made her way toward the changing room with Sakura. After Sakura put the last bit of her clothes on, being her black mesh shirt she heard angry footsteps enter the changing room. At the few women in there that screamed and left she could tell who it was that was entering the room. 

“You do realize that this is the woman’s changing room don’t you Hidan?” He ignored her and grabbed her arm dragging her toward the hole he had made in the wall. Sakura quickly grabbed her bag and waved goodbye to a very confused Rin. “So where exactly are you dragging me off to?” The questioned earned a grumble and she was yanked closer to the man as he stepped over the rubble he had created. 

“We are leaving, now.” He grit out walking passed Kakuzu who rolled his eyes. Sakura raised a brow and planted her feet on the ground making it impossible for him to move her.

“You have no obligation to stay with me, hell it’s confusing enough that you tagged along with me in the first place, originally I had assumed you would try to attack me then storm off once I offered you to come,” She was greeted with silence and another half hearted yank on her arm. “I was planning on staying for a few more days after all, so you can either stay or leave, it doesn't make much of a difference for me.” She shrugged her shoulders and if she saw it right, which she believed she did Hidan flinched. “Unless you actually want to stay with me?” Hidan let go of her arm in anger and grit his teeth. 

“No fucking way bitch, it doesn’t matter to me, I’ll just fucking leave then.” As he stalked off he stalled in his walk once Sakura called out to him. 

“If you change your mind I’ll be at the Triage Inn.” She could have sworn she saw a nod before he disappeared in a whirl of smoke. Sakura rolled her eyes with a small smile gracing her face until she realized that Kakuzu was standing awkwardly beside her. Or rather, she began to feel awkward because he was staring at her in something akin to curiosity. She was never one to get nervous when confronted by someone as powerful as Kakuzu. That wasn't the reason she was shifting on her feet and staring at the ground. Sakura, unbeknownst to everyone but Kakashi, was a huge fan of his work. She was afraid if she opened her mouth to speak she would ramble on with questions and fawning of how great she thought he was. When she heard his feet shift so he was standing in front of her she looked up in surprise. 

“I’ll admit, I’m curious, after first meeting you I assumed you were just another messenger brat, now that I’ve seen your bounty, I guess I was mistaken.” She could have sworn she saw his green eyes sparkle in amusement as her face flushed red.

“Ah y-yeah I haven't seen m-my bounty in a while, w-what is it now days?” She questioned as she shifted on her feet again. 

“9.5 million ryo, which is admittedly a bit average for an S-class, curious, considering you have more missions on record than any your age, I wonder how secretive they would have to be to make it so your bounty didn’t rise.” It wasn't a question, she wouldn’t be able to say anything even if it was. Both of them new it was top secret, and she knew he had put the pieces together perfectly. “I think your village would have done better in hiding the fact that you are an ANBU.” She would blame it on the job that made her eyes narrow and her back straighten. 

“Hmm, if only you had proof of something like that, then maybe things would at least get interesting.” Her change in demeanor only seemed to make the curious glint in his eyes grow more frequent. She wanted to recoil in embarrassment at how quickly she reverted to her bitter taunting side. She gnashed her teeth in the slightest bit knowing she would embarrass herself if she backed out now. “So then, the great Kakuzu, who faced a Kage and came out alive, people call you immortal, everything about you is just so,” Pausing she swept her eyes over him and smirked. “Interesting.” He seemed to straighten at that, though if you weren’t looking for it you wouldn’t have seen it. Sakura practically moved on instinct as she spoke to him. It was never her intention but she was treating the conversation like she was trying to con him. She smiled and shook her head like she was shaking away stray thoughts in her mind. “Well I suppose we’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted on our little journey.” Stepping so they were mere inches apart she smirked up at him, “And I know I’ll enjoy every moment of it.” She turned on her heel tapping his chest with a knuckle and walked down the street ignoring the curious glances she got and the confused Kakuzu she left behind. It wasn't until she was in her room at the Inn that she slid to the ground and banged her forehead against the wall. Her face a cherry red as she covered it with her hands. 

“I cannot believe I just did that, stupid stupid Sakura, you just had to grift didn’t you?” She groaned out and placed her hands against the wall. “No ‘hi my names Sakura looking forward to traveling with you’, or ‘hey I’m a fan of your work’ but ‘I know I’ll enjoy every moment of it’.” She mocked herself shaking her head and motioning with her hands. “What the hell does that even mean?” Groaning once more she got to her feet and decided she would go find a bar, and get herself drunk enough so she wouldn’t remember the exchange when morning came. She changed into a pair of black Hakama and a loose red tank. She wanted to look casual enough but also be able to conceal weapons easily. With how baggy the Hakama was she was able to conceal her weapons pouch and even a few scrolls. Looking at the things on her bed she decided she would start opening gifts in the morning. After making sure she had money and putting up traps on the door, windows and the ceiling she headed out. 

She wrapped her hair in a ponytail as she walked down the street and scanned the various buildings for a bar. Her eyes landed on a slightly run down building with a haphazard sign above the doubles doors reading Drunken Kunai. Her curiousness got the better of her as she walked toward the entrance. Before she could step in front of the doorway the window beside her shattered as a body was thrown through it. She heard booming laughter inside as someone shouted either ‘don’t come back’ or ‘serves him right’. She thought vaguely that it seemed like a scene from a movie but shrugged her shoulders and walked through the door anyway. Inside was certainly a site to see, it was like a bar from a western. There were several people getting into fistfights, breaking chairs and table by smashing them on people or throwing someone into them. The bartender cleaned a glass with the roll of his eyes seeming to be entirely used to this behavior by now. Sakura’s lips twitched the slightest to form a smile as she walked passed the table to sit on a bar stool. 

“What can I get you?” She examined the bartender quickly. Looking at his messy brown hair and dark green eyes before she looked at the menu behind his head. 

“Hmm, I guess just the biggest bottle of Sake you have in stock and a cup.” She smiled at him and he rolled his eyes but turned around to find what she asked for. He set the bottle down and flipped a cup out behind the bar putting the sake cup in front of her as well.

“Now I’ll have to get the ryo now so I don’t have to ask you when you’re drunk out of your mind.” Sakura nodded and took out thirty ryo and put it on the bar. Sakura poured herself a cup and shot it back greedily. The sake cups were rather small but she didn’t mind, it just meant she could drink it quickly. Sighing in content and pouring herself another cup. She was more annoyed than anything when two familiar men settled themselves on either side of her. They were a bit hard to recognize without their usual masks and gauntlets but their eyes were unmistakable.

“And what's little Sakura doing in this part of the world?” Gozu slung his arm around her shoulders causing her to flinch in irritation. 

“You’re not getting up to some sort of trouble are you?” Meizu finished resting his forearm on her right shoulder. 

“Really, you of all people shouldn't be asking if I’m getting into trouble.” She snorted with a roll of her eyes. “So then, what God do I owe for the absolute pleasure of getting to talk to the  _ demon brothers _ .” The sarcasm in her voice was evident and she felt Meizu flinch as she said the nickname they both absolutely hated. 

“We were just sitting having a few drinks and recognized that pink hair of yours and wanted to say hello.” She felt Meizu’s fingers run through her long pony tail and she stopped herself from gritting her teeth. He knew she hated when people touched her hair, obviously it was to get a rise out of her, which she wouldn't grant him.

“Oh I’m sure because you both are just full of kindness and hospitality,” She shot back another cup of sake intent to make it so the two annoyances didn’t ruin her mood. “What do you both want?” Sakura wasn't a lightweight by any means so when she didn’t feel slightest bit buzzed she shot back another cup. The brothers glanced at eachother and Meizu grinned. 

“We heard from someone that you no longer wear your forehead protector if you know what I mean?” He questioned and Sakura rolled her eyes. 

“You heard wrong, I may not wear it but that doesn’t mean it's crossed out, sorry to say but I’m still a Konoha ninja.” She could almost swear that both of them seemed disappointed. “So you can either sit down and have a few drinks with me, or go the hell away.” Meizu pulled up a stool and sat down ordering a few drinks while Gozu did the same on her other side. They spoke and drank until the sun fell behind the hills and the familiar buzz of the night life scattered through the streets. There were hardly pleasantries exchanged between the three acquaintances. By the time night came they were all so inebriated that they almost destroyed the entire bar by trying to fight with each other. After they were kicked out by a fuming bartender they went their separate ways stumbling down opposite streets. It took Sakura around thirty minutes to finally make it to her room in the Inn. She was oblivious to the person sitting on the edge of her bed sharpening their weapon as she struggled to close the door. 

“You having trouble there kid?” Sakura turned on her heel after a moment's delay and beamed at the man before her.

“Hidan, you came back!” The way Sakura’s words slurred made Hidan raise a brow. His eyes traveled to the way she stumbled toward him to her bright pink cheeks in bewilderment. Once she fell forward draping over his legs and trying in vain to grab the weapon sharpener from his hand. 

“Are you drunk?” Sakura looked up at him after a moment and tilted her head to the side cutely.

“Yup!” She chirped energetically with a small giggle. Hidan rolled his eyes at her antics and mumbled something about heathens being heathens. Sakura stared blankly for a moment until she vaguely registered a hand waving in front of her face. Blinking and looking up she saw Hidan peering curiously at her. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by her own yawn and all that consumed her thoughts were how tired she was. Forgetting she was currently draping over Hidan she snuggled into his legs. She heard a sigh coming from above her before there was a clank of something being put on the ground. Before she could look toward the sound she was lifted into the air. By the time she actually registered she had been picked up she was placed into the bed by a grumbling Hidan. Smiling lightly at him she curled into herself and pulled at the surrounding blankets. She vaguely felt the bed dip as Hidan settled beside her continuing to sharpen his scythe. Sakura was too tired to notice much else other than the quiet muttering beside her. 

Hidan glanced at her after a moment and noted she had fallen asleep. With a sigh he continued to sharpen his blade wondering why exactly he had come back. One reason he knew for sure, was that she reminded him of  _ her.  _ Staring at the ceiling as he tried to reign in that train of thought he grit his teeth. Her with her blazing personality and sweet smile, large doe like eyes that screamed innocence. Sakura reminded him very much of the person he had lost, which was his only justification in actually coming back and dealing with her instead of just killing her right then and there. He set down his scythe once again and his hand immediately went to his rosary. Holding it up off his neck he stared at it and pondered for the first time in a long time of what exactly he was doing. Griping it he closed his eyes and prayed to his God asking questions which he desperately needed answers for.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot is going to start happening, and boy is it gonna be a bit of a trip.


	3. Acceptance through trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura get's a fairly lax day and Itachi get's a letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow.... it has been ages. I am so sorry.

Hidan woke up to a very curious site, Sakura on the floor surrounded by a mountain of scrolls and gifts. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as she sipped from a cup. 

“Morning Hidan.” Hidan raised a brow as she kept staring at a scroll she had opened. 

“Whats all this shit?” He pushed himself out of bed noting the cup of coffee set on the bedside table for him. Grabbing it he walked to the front of the bed and settled down beside Sakura. 

“Gifts and such, my friends from my village left me.” She yawned and wrapped the blankets she was using like a shawl around herself more. 

“You must have had a shit load of friends.” He mumbled and took a sip of the coffee. 

“I got around a lot.” After she was finished reading through the scroll she had in her hand she rolled it back up and set it down on a pile of gifts that seemed to be sorted as already opened. She then pulled out a small black rectangular box about the size of her palm. If she remembered correctly this was the one Fugaku had given her. Taking off the violet ribbon she slid the top off of the box and pulled out a piece of paper. Unfolding the piece of paper she stared at it for a moment before she swallowed the coffee in her mouth too fast making her cough several times before she contained herself. Looking back at the box as her face turned almost beet red she pulled out a delicate ruby necklace with intricate weavings of the chain and a small metal pendent of the Uchiha symbol resting in the middle. Hidan raised a brow and snatched the letter from her hand reading over it quickly. 

“What?” He asked almost protectively as Sakura stared at the necklace almost awestruck.

“I, he just, I think,” Taking a breath she thought for a moment and almost laughed at the realization she had. “I think he just gave me his blessing if I ever wanted to ask for his son’s hand in marriage.” At this she couldn't hold it in any longer and she burst out laughing. “No wonder he was so damn awkward in handing me the gift, at first I thought it was just because Uchihas are like that but no, he was fucking giving me his blessing because he knows Itachi’s too absorbed with his mission to his village to actually do anything like that.” She practically had tears in her eyes as she spoke and Hidan, for some reason wanted to have a small, non threatening of course, chat with whoever the hell itachi was. Then as he looked at the symbol he blanched and stared at the girl. 

“Did you say fucking Uchiha?” As Sakura wiped tears from her eyes she nodded. There was a knock on Sakura’s window making both her and Hidan look over. Sakura almost grimaced when she saw who it was. Three S-class rogues in the same room, what could possibly go wrong. With a sigh and sealed up all her gifts again cept the scroll from Kakashi and the small box from Fugaku. Slipping the box and scroll into her pocket she walked over to the window and opened it up. 

“Two days in a row of seeing you two, I must have horrible luck.” Sakura stared at the brothers and moved aside motioning to let them in. 

“Yeah well we need a-” Gozu paused once he was inside the room and looking at Hidan as he casually lounged on the bed. Gozu looked at Sakura in question who just shrugged. 

“What can I say, I have interesting friends, now,” She began and waited for Meizu to come inside and shut the window behind him. “What do you want?” Meizu stared at Hidan for a moment then looked at Sakura. 

“We got hired for this job, standard four cell, well on their way here our other two members ended up getting captured by hunter ninja, seeing as we met you last night we figured you were the easiest last minute choice.” Sakura glanced at Hidan and he shrugged his shoulders. 

“I suppose I’m technically in town for three more days, why not.” Sakura was however not stupid enough to go into the mission thinking the brothers were actually telling the truth about it. For all she knew it could have been a trap to attack her and get the price on her head. Though she doubted they were stupid enough to attack her when she had another S-Class rouge on her side. “So then, what's the mission?” Sakura walked over to the bed sitting on the floor and leaning her back against it as she began sipping on her coffee again. 

“There’s a caravan coming through Iwa, about half a day's walk from here, we won't have to go near the Village but it is across the checkpoint, It’s a shipment full of weapons, most likely guarded by sixteen or so hired chunin class ninja-”

“Most likely, so you don’t have an actual concrete number?” Meizu and Gozu looked at each other causing Sakura to raise a brow. “What?”

“We have the list but-”

“It’s a bit complicated.” Meizu finished his partners sentence.

“Give me the list.” Sakura looked at them suspiciously. Meizu handed her the list that they commandeered. After a moment of scanning through the names Sakura almost groaned. “Ah, right.” She pinched the bridge of her nose before sighing and drinking the rest of her coffee. 

“What, someone you know?” Hidan snatched the list from her hand and looked it over. 

“Sort of, she’s a bit.. Unhinged, most people call her absolutely crazy, what's worse though, is that she’s an S-Class Rogue.” Hidan shrugged. 

“If you’re so worried about one S-Class I’ll deal with her.” Sakura shook her head and grabbed the list back. 

“No, I’ll be the one to fight her, if she even stays to fight after she sees me,” Setting her cup on the floor she looked back at Meizu and Gozu. “So, her and sixteen more.” She narrowed her eyes in thought. “Something's not right.” The three men looked at her almost thinking the same thing. “It doesn’t make sense to have that many people, including an S-Class, who does not work cheap. Just to protect a shipment of weapons, the only time that would make sense is if someone was planning-” All four of them looked at each other almost in surprise as they came to the same conclusion. “Who hired you for the job?”

“Some guy while we were passing through Ame.” 

“How much is he paying you?” Sakura nodded to Hidan’s question. 

“90 million ryo.” Sakura and Hidan looked at each other in surprise. 

“That much for a standard four cell attacking a weapons shipment?” Gozu shrugged. “That much and you didn’t even bat an eye, you didn’t think that was the slightest bit suspicious?” Sakura looked at them in bewilderment. “You are both either stupid, or lack any and all sense of self preservation.” She almost wanted to slap one of them 

“Because you are someone that should be lecturing us on self preservation.” Meizu stared at her blankly. Before she could retort Hidan was on his feet. 

“So what?” Hidan shrugged. “Who cares who wants the job done or why, we’re ninja, not samruai, all that matters is that we get the money.” Sakura nodded in agreement after a moment's thought. 

“True, either way, stopping the shipment is in our best interests, someone starting a war would just be troublesome, let's just not do anything outside of the range of what we are paid for.” Sakura stood stretching her arm behind her. 

“So what we normally do.” Sakura nodded. 

“I suppose, but who could resist being a bit melodramatic, besides, I like having a general look at the entire playing board before I start moving my pieces.”

“You're starting to talk like some evil mastermind.” Sakura put a finger over her lips jokingly. 

“Don’t give away all my secrets now Hidan.” 

“If you two are done flirting, we should be leaving soon, the caravan should be just before the checkpoint in about ten hours, so we have roughly eight if you want to get there to scope out the ambush point.” Sakura nodded and grabbed her cloak threw it on flipping up the hood. At the odd look she got she shrugged. 

“I’m not entirely supposed to leave the village until I continue with my mission, and the pink hair is a bit of a giveaway.” Putting her bag on her back she re-strapped her weapons pouch to her thigh. “Shall we head out then?” Hidan gathered his things and the four acquaintances went on their way easily sneaking out of the village. 

It wasn’t until the morning of the second day that the four trudged back into the village. They were all a bit worse for wears. Though none of their wounds had been from the mission. Mei had taken one look at Sakura once they attacked and left. It was most likely for the best, they weren’t on very friendly terms. All her and the boys had to deal with was the chunins, who were, sad to say, not much of a challenge. After about an hour of fighting, mostly because they all tried to make it entertaining. They had taken care of the ninja and went toward Ame depositing the shipment quickly by using one of Sakura’s safe points to go right outside of the village gates. She ignored their curious looks and they all decided to leave it at that. After all, it took quite a while to paint the sigils that were required to make the safepoints. 

So after getting the money from the seedy looking guy they decided to all, minus Hidan, get completely and utterly drunk. Of course they ended up picking fights with people, Hidan just doing it for the general fun of picking fights. So here they were, Hidan the only one without a scratch on him as they walked through town toward their previous hotel. While the others sported fairly painful hangovers Hidan was walking beside them grinning like a madman and jabbering on as often as he could just to annoy them.

“Hidan, if you do not shut your mouth, I will sew it shut.” Sakura hissed angrily as she rubbed her temples. He only turned and grinned at her.

“This is what you heathens get for acting on temptation.” All three of them groaned in annoyance as he continued talking. 

********

He knew doing what he did on the day she left was a risky move. Afterall it was just asking to be ridiculed, especially by his cousin and uncle. Though what he had not expected was for Naruto and Sasuke to corner him during one of their missions and give him a talk that he assumed fathers gave their daughters significant others before giving them his blessing. He had found it amusing more than anything. Then Hashirama and Madara started acting odd, well, more than usual. Madara kept glaring at him everytime he entered the same room as him, speaking to him passive aggressively and trying to set him up with random women. Hashirama, though much more well tempered seemed to strain in the smiles he gave him, or quickly leave a room when Itachi entered. Then there was his mother, who he thought was bad before he had openly displayed his affections on Sakura. Mikoto was now raving on and on about weddings and children and him stepping up to become the successor when Sakura got back. People around the village seemed to give him pitying looks because everyone seemed to find out how long Sakura was going to be gone. He couldn’t walk through town without being bombarded by Sakura’s fans or girls offering to ‘console’ him in his time of need. It had barely been a week and his calm demeanor was already slipping. Ironically, Obito and Shisui were the only people he could be around normally. After two days of making fun of him for kissing Sakura they mellowed out, even went so far as to help him with people around the village and his family pestering him about Sakura. The two of them were the only reason he had not lost it by now. 

“Yo.” Itachi had been absorbed in the small bits of peace he was finally able to have that he had not noticed the ANBU captain settled on the branch next to him. 

“Kakashi-san, is there something you need?” Itachi closed the book in his hands as he looked at the copy ninja. 

“Sakura asked me to give this to you.” Itachi tried not to let the excitement on his face show as he grabbed the letter extended to him. 

“Was there a reason she had not just sent it to me herself?” Itachi was a bit curious, usually she sent her letters through her summons. Kakashi shrugged as he pulled out his orange book. 

“I assume she had a reason.” Kakashi drawled uncaring as he scanned the pages of what seemed to be the newest issue of Icha Icha. How Itachi knew that was embarrassingly because of Sakura. She was, for a reason Itachi could not fathom, enthralled with the series. He opened the letter with a small bit of joy that seemed to finally stop surprising him when it came to her. 

_ ‘Hey Itachi,  _

_ So I finally got the time to write a letter, sorry about the long wait, I knew I told you I would write to you as soon as I got to Waterfall but something came up. Oh, and those scrolls that I told you about, I mean, I think I told you about them, in any sense, there are these five scrolls I was given, turns out I won't be doing this mission alone, I have to do it with five other goddamn people, but uh, I doubt I was supposed to share that which is why I’m sending this letter to you through Kakashi. Oh and one of those people is Kakuzu! Though I made a horrible first impression and I’m fairly sure he hates me.   _

Ah, now it made sense why Kakashi had delivered the letter. 

_ Anyway, I don't have much time, Hidan’s being annoying and Gozu won't stop whining. Send any future letters to me through Meiru, she complains that she’s not having enough jobs lately. I’ll send another letter in a week, tell everyone hello for me.  _

_                                                                                                    -Sakura  _

Itachi raised a brow at the familiar sounding names. Gozu was more of a common one but Hidan was rather unique. He folded the letter away and reached into his pouch taking out the latest version of the bingo book. Flipping through the pages he stopped at a picture of a grinning Zealot and sighed. Itachi really shouldn't have been that surprised, Sakura had some very ‘questionable’ friends. 

“How did she send you the letter?” Itachi inquired as he put away the bingo book. 

“I ran into her on my way through Waterfall, never expected that to be where the Hokage sent her, I had a quick day mission,” He shrugged as he turned a page of his book. “Unsurprisingly enough, she was with three S-Class rogues and sporting a pretty big hangover.” Itachi felt like he wanted to march out of the village and go get her but he squashed the thought as soon as it came. Afterall, if he just showed up out of nowhere that would be breaking the promise he had already made to her. 

“I see,” Itachi said evenly as he could when thinking about Sakura being with three dangerous foreign ninja.

“She had them wrapped around her little finger though, seems that's a running theme with her and dangerous people.” Itachi supposed that was Kakashi’s way of trying to quell his worries. The ANBU captain stood and gave a lazy wave. 

“I have to go, Obito seems to be ecstatic about going to the Cherry Blossom festival tonight.” Kakashi grumbled but Itachi knew better than to think Kakashi was actually annoyed by it. Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving Itachi to ponder on the contents of the letter. 

*****

Sakura had to admit seeing Kakashi so suddenly after she left was a bit surprising. He passed through town after doing a small assassination mission. Of course he was as efficient as ever when doing ANBU missions, though when he was their sensei he couldn't be bothered to show up on time once. She was glad she could send him with a short letter to Itachi, even if her boys constantly made fun of her for the small blush on her cheeks as she wrote it. Sakura let a sigh exit her lips as she looked up at the stars dotting the sky. She had a few more days in town, then she would be leaving toward Suna. She supposed she could say goodbye to the Sand Siblings while she was there. She glanced to her right on the roof to see Gozu staring up at the sky while Meizu dozed off leaning against him. Gozu and Meizu decided that they were going to tag along on her journey, for no other reason then they had nothing better to do. Letting her eyes sweep to her left she found Hidan staring at her. She raised a brow and he let his eyes go to the sky casually. 

Sakura figured he had something on his mind but she decided to leave it until he wanted to tell her. Looking back up at the stars she began to wonder when exactly her life got so odd. Afterall it wasn't exactly normal for an ANBU captain to be spending her leisure with three wanted criminals. Sakura couldn’t help the small smile that went to her face as she reached to her sides and wrapped her arms around Gozu and Hidan's waists. They looked at her curiously but didn't seem to protest. So Sakura enjoyed the company as she looked up at the sky and slowly began falling asleep.

The next few days went by without incident. Sakura shopped a bit for new supplies, bought stuff to put in everyone's packs, because if there were five of them might as well make them carry some of the shit they would be using. She got a few strange looks as she walked around town the day they were planning on leaving. She vaguely understood it, afterall seeing a small pink haired girl walking around blatantly reading Icha Icha, wasn't a very normal thing. She had been a bit desensitized to the subject however. Kakashi had done it since they were twelve on his genin team, she really didn't see it as that big of a deal. She paused in her walking taking a few steps back and looking into a restaurant window. She had to admit the only thing that looked odd to her was the fact that they were in casual clothes. She waved at them and Gozu waved back enthusiastically. She kept walking though leaving them be to have their day alone. After all they were about to be traveling together for a long time.

Sakura decided to just spend her last day walking around the village. Seeing the rest of the sights, without annoying people to deal with. Well that was her original plan anyway. 

“I want a spar.” She looked up from her book blinking slowly as she registered those words and looked from her book to Kakuzu in silent debate. 

“Uh... well, Hidan is currently off doing who knows what so I’m not entirely sure why you’re telling me.” She wasn’t stupid, she understood that he was asking, or well demanding it from her. However, in light of not having a free day since she had left her village, she wanted to avoid it. His gaze hardened in irritation at her and after a moment she sighed in resignation. “Fine fine, where are the training grounds?” Sakura saw, what looked like excitement behind his Jade eyes. The flicker of life disappeared so quickly that she thought her eyes were just fooling her. Though as she said, Sakura was smart, she knew what she saw, and through that assertion she felt dread settle in her stomach. He grunted and turned fully expecting her to follow and she thought for a moment before sighing slipping her book in the pouch on her waist and following him. She had a very strong feeling that this would be a fairly big pain in the ass. 

The walk to the training ground was silent and Sakura could see that Kakuzu was slightly tense. Once they arrived at a larger section of the training grounds Sakura grabbed a red ribbon from her pouch and used it to tie her hair up in a ponytail effectively putting it away from her eyes. 

“Just a warning, I’m not a very fun person to fight, or at least that’s what everyone says.” She shrugged as she pulled out a kunai twirling it lazily between her fingers. Kakuzu said nothing as he got into what Sakura assumed was considered a fighting stance to him. He was just standing straight, tensed, coiled and ready to attack. Sakura tried to get into a comfortable stance and after a moment sighed and reached down unstrapping her boots and tossing them to the side. Relishing in the feeling of the wet grass under her feet she widened her stance a small bit and stared at Kakuzu. Neither of them moved, eyes flicking toward their surroundings and trailing over their opponents like they could find each other's weaknesses in just a gaze. It seemed like a long time, each of them waiting for the other to make a move. The atmosphere grew ever tenser as they started to shift slightly, ready to make their first move when needed.

“Fuck can you two be any slower, it’s a fucking fight not a goddamn dance.” Sakura grit her teeth using one hand to flip Hidan off and not daring to spare him a glance. She imagined he would probably be leaning against one of the trees to her right waiting impatiently for them to start their fight. 

“If you don’t like it, then go away,” Sakura glanced at Hidan only for a split second and instinct took over as she brought her kunai up blocking a hit that was aimed for the side of her head. She figured he would take that moment to attack her, and she was glad because she had been getting bored of waiting as well. She used his momentum against him dropping the kunai and grabbing his leg before he could pull back. She dug her heels into the ground spinning her feet and taking him off his other foot flinging him to the side and letting go of his leg.

After the small moment of surprise he grabbed a kunai digging it into the ground to try and stop himself from going any further. Finally stopping when his back slammed into a tree the impact causing it to crack. He stood quickly dodging a kick aimed for his abdomen. Raising his arm and trying to block another kick aimed for his head. He felt pain shoot through his arm as he was knocked to the ground and he rolled back dodging another kick that split the ground where he had previously been. He surmised that maybe blocking any of her attacks would not be a good idea. Hopping back a few feet to gain some distance he looked at her as she bounced on her feet in excitement. Kakuzu looked at his no doubt broken arm and decided that maybe only dodging would be a good idea. Glancing at Hidan as he laughed shrilly most likely at Kakuzu being forced onto the defensive. “Ready to quit yet?” Sakura asked her voice edging on a concerned tone. He felt anger ignite in him as she looked at his broken arm in slight worry. Ignoring the pain shooting up his arm he ran forward going to attack her. A sigh exited Sakura’s lips as she saw him running forward. She dodged his attack launching herself up into the air and spinning back toward the ground her fist reeling back and aiming down. When her fist hit the ground it was like silence reigned over everything. The only thing to be heard was the ground cracking as fissures split up and around their location. 

Kakuzu just froze, he wasn't entirely sure what to think. This small petite sixteen year old girl just literally caused the equivalent of an earthquake. The moment of surprise caused him to have no time in dodging the kick aimed for his jaw. He was knocked back to the ground and decided maybe just laying there would be a good idea. There was shouting and whooping from Hidan, along with a few colorful words. He heard feet crunching on the dirt and saw her out of the corner of his eye as he stared at the sky. 

“You okay?” She kneeled down hands glowing green as she grabbed the cloth over his face and took it off running her fingers over his jaw. He felt himself almost moan from the cooling feeling that washed over him from her healing touch. “You’re stitches are cool.” He grunted as she went on to healing his arm. “You should be good.” He turned his head so he was looking at her and just started absentmindedly reaching a hand out and grabbing her wrist. She raised an amused brow not bothering to pull back. “What, I kick your ass and now you like me?” He grunted again and after a moment let go of her wrist and sat up. She stood as he did and looked at her for a long while. 

“If you two start making out I’m leaving.” Sakura rolled her eyes but made no motion to move. She was a bit surprised when she felt a hand on her head. It was gone quickly and Kakuzu was turning away putting the cloth back over his face. She thought she vaguely heard him compliment her hair but she decided to just leave it. Once he was gone she looked up at Hidan and gave im a smile.

“I think he likes me.” Hidan rolled his eyes and dropped from the tree going over to her.

“And you’re happy about that for some deranged reason?” Sakura shrugged.

“It means our travels will be easier because he won’t be bitching or weirdly silent so yes, I am.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally am able to occasionally use a laptop to write on.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp if you got to the end of that train wreck I salute you, future chapter will be far better, especially because I am writing them now at my current level and not revising what I wrote when I was like twelve.


End file.
